We present the annual Select Media Festival in an attempt to highlight a few of the threads that make Chicago a fantastic cultural diaspora for emerging art and counter-cultural activity. In an ongoing exploration of emerging art movements and independent networks in contemporary art and media, this year we find ourselves in the Community of the Future, formally known as Bridgeport. We’re navigating underused urban geography for our festival activities, now in their fourth year, within the theme “secret histories and imagined futures.” Join us in the heart of Chicago Oct. 20 - Nov. 13 as we investigate the future of counter cultures and new artist initiatives.

The New Chicagoans refers to a multiplicity of approaches by the vanguard of Chicago’s art communities. This group exhibition reveals the wide range of approaches in contemporary art making in the city.

In collaboration with mn gallery and Chicago Artists’ Month, Select Media Festival has programmed and mapped out an alternative cultural cartography of the Bridgeport neighborhood. This “detourism” map can be used as a walking guide to Bridgeport. It includes the newly designated North Bridgeport Arts Triangle. On Oct. 22, these spaces will be opened to the public.

Community of the Future Experimental Culture ZoneOct. 22-November 13, 2005 Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only

Select Media Festival helps kick start a new artistic “cultural center” along a one block area on 3100 - 3200 South Morgan St that hosts three independent stores: Quimby’s , Myopic Books and Odd Obsession Video, alongside the only coffee house in Bridgeport and a local favorite Dive bar. The stores will host workshops, presentations and other independent media projects to create a site of interaction between residents, visitors and the wide range of independent media culture that these stores will supply. The storefronts will only be open on the weekends.

The Secret Histories Museum discovers and presents historical evidence, inviting visitors to seek understanding of themselves and of the world, between history and future. The museum will highlight past choices, present circumstances and future possibilities, strengthen the bonds of community, and facilitate solutions to common problems.

The grand opening of the Secret Histories Museum features exhibits and educational projects about Chicago. It includes exhibitions and educational presentations about the squatters’ village in Streeterville; Chicago’s Secret Societies and Orders; examinations of Chicago Fluxus happenings and projects; a recently discovered art movement called Folk ADD; examinations of red squads and the US government’s COINTELPRO, which targets American dissidents; a utopian architecture collective from the 1960s called Archigo; and more. Fluxus re-enactments, talks and presentations will be given at the Museum throughout the festival.

Taking the theme of the multiplex - where people often see more than one movie for the price of one admission - visitors can wander through our temporary theater complex, watch multiple video programs and eat as much popcorn as they can.